Sentry Boats provided safety boat cover during a project to shot blast and re-paint the Nissan Linkspan Bridge. This work took place at the end of 2018 from October through to January 2019. Although the weather proved challenging, Sentry Boats once again delivered safety boat cover and crew using our latest addition, the Pioneer Multi II.

Our latest addition to the fleet was fully fitted out ready for work last year. Already she has performed really well on several contracts, delivering safety boat cover on River Tyne for various projects and also for water sampling and survey work on the Tyne.

Sentry Boats were happy to provide a fully coded and crewed RIB to Tyne Tees Television for the filming of the opening of the Great Exhibition of the North on 22nd June, 2018. The perfect weather on the day showed the River Tyne, bridges and the fountains at their best. The camera man and reporter from Tyne Tees were reporting live on the 6 o’clock news and Sentry 1 provided a great position for them to deliver their report.

February 2018 and winter arrives with a bang as Sentry I heads to Dunkirk, France.

As Hollywood enters Amazon Prime, box collections are now the new blockbuster. Filming of Patriot, Season 2, began in Dunkirk during the first week in February. Sentry Boats were commissioned to provide safety boat cover whilst filming took place off the beaches of Dunkirk. It was very sad to think that so many men lost their lives on these very beaches during World War II.

Typically, production teams planned this so far in advance it was impossible to predict the weather. We were faced with wind-chill temperatures of minus 15C and frequent snow showers.

The dot in the water is the poor actor, Michael Dorman (not a stunt man) – needless to say he wasn’t in the water very long before being recovered. The water temperature was 5C!

Although the working conditions were very harsh and cold, the overall job was an absolute pleasure due to the hospitality shown to us whilst in Dunkirk from the locals and the production company – it certainly made our work much easier.

Sentry Boats have added a new vessel to the fleet due to the high safety demands of working on rivers and estuaries – a Pioner polyethylene boat with drop down bow to add to speed with which a casualty can be brought safely aboard without further injury.

Although we offer RIBs as a standard safety boat it is not always the ideal solution.

Sentry Safety Boats have worked in the safety boat industry for many years. We at Sentry recognised a hard boat is sometimes a better option when coming alongside jetties. Generally there are many hazards to mooring a RIB alongside – the very nature of inflatable boats tends to be they deflate very quickly when punctured!! Pioner Multi was seen to be a solution when mooring overnight ready for the early start next day.

The Pioner Multi with the catamaran like hull is more efficient and planes easily offering off the mark speed to rush to incidents quickly with no dramas, minimum wash (a big thing when recovering a casualty), high visibility and a unique bow entry system that can be easily lowered by winch to recover at the bow giving crew and skipper control. The bow can be raised when on transit to shore and lowered to give emergency egress to the shore. The door is wide enough to permit most wheelchairs, which makes loading heavy or bulky items effortless.

Thanks to a soft entry bow and designed catamaran-like hull, the Pioner Multi has superb sea keeping abilities yet it still gives you a carrying capacity of over one metric tonne!

Many of the UK Emergency services use Pioner Multi hulls for these purposes but it also makes an excellent work boat.

Many times Sentry Boats have been asked to quote prices for a specific project. Often the project may only be 2-3 days whilst others may stretch over 2-3 years. Due to this, it is always very hard to quote an exact price. However, some costs can be absorbed within the project price over long-term rental, i.e. travel, logistics of boat movement etc. With this in mind please contact Sentry with your requirements and we can often hire a boat from £100 per day.

A recent success for Sentry Boats was a contract awarded by Durham County Council for the rejuvenation of Seaham’s North Pier. This project was a partnership between the Environment Agency, Durham County Council, Carillion and Sentry Boats. A two year, £3.4 million project on Seaham’s historic North Pier aimed at protecting the town from flooding and the risk of erosion has now been completed.

Sentry Boats remit was to provide a 10 metre hard boat and a 5.8 metre fast response RIB. Operations were central to the harbour and direct communication to pier staff and management via VHF radio. All staff were issued with floatation devices and emergency response equipment. Although initially this project was seen to be straightforward, whilst only working during summer months, the typical north east weather created extreme working conditions increasing the risks and requirement for a safety boat.